3D

Feast your eyes on Sprout, a new all-in-one PC from HP that replaces the keyboard and mouse with a 20-point, 20-inch projected touchpad. HP says the Sprout is the first product in a new ‘Blended Reality’ lineup that’s meant to re-envision the interface between real and virtual, analog and digital. Along with the projector, there’s also a high-res camera and 3D scanner, allowing you to easily ‘upload’ objects into the Sprout just by placing them on the mat.

At Siggraph 2014, Microsoft Research has unveiled Hyperlapse, an ingenious algorithm that will actually make you want to watch first-person GoPro footage. Hyperlapse scans through hours of video footage, reconstructs the physical path that you took in 3D, and then generates a super-smooth 10x-speed hyperlapse video that is immensely watchable (it’s a lot like a video game, in fact). Really, watch the videos below – I guarantee they’ll be the coolest thing you see today.

Eight long months after the launch of the Xbox One and PS4, both Microsoft and Sony have finally announced support for playback of 3D Blu-rays. I’m certainly not going to turn my nose up at the addition of new features, but it does make me wonder what took so long for these updates to surface. The PS3 has had 3D Blu-ray support since 2010, and it works perfectly fine on that aging hardware. So, what’s the hold-up on the current generation?

This morning, ahead of its July 24 release date, the internet was flooded with Amazon Fire Phone reviews — and, rather unfortunately, they almost universally pan the smartphone for being gimmicky, ugly, sluggish, and low on battery life. A fair number of reviews go as far as calling the Fire Phone more of a prototype, and that you’d be better off waiting for the sequel. As expected, too, the fact that dozens of key apps are missing from the Amazon App Store makes the Fire Phone much less useful than an iPhone or Android smartphone.

That’s it, folks. The Fire Phone looks neat, but a lot of that technology seems like a gimmick. Until I get to use the device myself, I’ll remain skeptical. Still, the pricing model and standard 32GB of storage puts even more pressure on Apple to up the specs on the next iPhone. If Amazon delivers on its promises on July 25th, the smartphone industry is going to get a lot more interesting.

Amazon, at long last, is set to launch a smartphone with a glasses-free 3D “holographic” display. Invites were sent out late yesterday for a special launch event on June 18 in Seattle. Accompanying the invite was a hilariously awkward teaser video (embedded below) with the new device just out of frame, with a bunch of starry-eyed first-time users wobbling and bobbling and gyrating to trigger the screen’s 3D effect.

These days, the majority of smartphones are good, but a dime a dozen — the floor for a quality phone is higher, but the ceiling has plateaued. The only truly gigantic differences between competing phones nowadays are brand loyalty, display size, and operating system (or how much bloat is plastered on top of the same operating system). Regardless of this, Amazon is rumored to think that it can break into the market and make a splash with its own smartphone, and now, some leaked pictures of the device might just corroborate the company’s mentality.

For 2014’s NBA All-Star weekend, the league is implementing advanced technology to better showcase the festivities. By employing an algorithm designed by tech company Replay Technologies, the dunk contest and All-Star game are going to broadcast real-time replays in 3D.

While the Oculus Rift, (very slightly) curved displays, and 4K televisions are just now breaking out onto the tech scene, none of them feel like the future we were promised from old sci-fi movies. Voxiebox, a holographic display like you would find in Star Wars or Star Trek, is a real device today, and feels much more like the future than any display technology you’ve seen.

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